FREE INQUIRY JOURNAL: The latest issue features ‘The U.S.’ – Where It’s Been, Where It Is, Where It Should Go….

Medieval Christendom? Are They Serious?

Marian Tupy, Steven Pinker

Would we be better off living in the Middle Ages? Astonishingly, influential voices on the American intellectual Right now seem to think so. Rather than affirming the Enlightenment ideals that inspired this country’s founding—reason, rights, markets, liberal democracy, and church–state separation—they are longing for, of all things, rule from the throne and altar. Last October …

The ‘Wall of Separation’ Needs a Good Patch Job!

Robert Louis Semes

On the 200th anniversary of his death on July 4, 1826, and the 250th anniversary of his Declaration of Independence, we need Thomas Jefferson now more than ever. We especially need his progressive views on the severance of church from state by a “wall of separation.” We in the United States live in troubling times …

Secular Approaches to Moral Education: Building Character without Commandments

Steve Grumette

The question confronting American educators today is not whether we should teach ethics to children—virtually everyone agrees that moral education is essential. The question is how we should teach ethics in an increasingly diverse society where traditional religious approaches no longer work for everyone. I believe we need to fundamentally rethink our approach to moral …